Gun show ad appears above Florida Times-Union story about school bus shooting

This Friday Florida Times-Union front page, with a gun show sticker ad, is circulating on social media this morning. I asked the newspaper about it and got this statement from vice president of audience Kurt Caywood:

All of us at The Florida Times-Union know that gun violence is one of the most emotionally charged and pressing issues facing our community. The tragedy that occurred on a Duval County school bus Thursday was as societally significant as it was frightening. As such, a team of reporters, editors and photographers approached this story with great sensitivity and professionalism, and we stand proudly by their report on page 1A of Friday’s newspaper.

The appearance of a gun-related front-page sticky note on the same day was an incredibly regrettable coincidence. It was born of the purposeful separation between our news and advertising departments, an approach we take because we value nothing more than the objectivity of our journalism. That said, this clearly was an oversight. We’re aggressively reviewing our procedures and will implement steps to prevent such a situation in the future.